Supporting Charity

Sometimes the numbers are overwhelming. I'm talking about requests from friends and relatives, co-workers and neighbors ... to support their latest charity initiative.

When I was a teen-ager, I remember rocking in a rocking chair for over 24 hours - to raise money for a mission trip. I rocked, and raised more money than any of the other kids. There was a girl on my school bus whose Dad had made a lot of money in coal. He'd divorced her mother and moved to Tennessee. But being the enterprising young man that I was, I wrote to him and ask him to help me. He'd never met me, but my connection with his daughter apparently moved him to write a big check. It put me way ahead of the pack of other teen-agers who were "off their rockers" that weekend. (Sorry --- I just could resist the pun!)

Anyway, I digress. I should have realized it back then in my teen-age years. I should have seen it coming. Today, the Girl Scout cookies, the Brownie popcorn, the Boy Scout candy, the grade school wrapping paper, and of course those church youth groups with their car washes, mission trips, etc. Everyone wants you to do something to support whatever charity or non-profit endeavor they feel called to. But it doesn't end there either.

Look in the newspapers or get on-line and it doesn't take you long to see a myriad of opportunities to support your favorite charity. The latest headline I read this week was titled, "10 Ways to Support Charity Through Social Media." It's a story about how I can Twitter my favorite charity to success. Of course you can shop to benefit charity, dine out to benefit charity, have the grocery store funnel money to charity, have your credit card funnel money to charity, and on it goes.

I'm sorry, but I'm looking at God's Word. It says we are to love and serve God above all others. It says we are to love each other (our neighbor). I wonder if these gimmicks amount to love. Does raising money for the church youth group show my love for God? Does shopping at Kroger and directing some of the proceeds to charity show how much I love my neighbor?

Don't get me wrong. Americans have always been considered a generous lot. It's been said that we give more money than any nation on earth ever has. I believe that is probably true. But I think it can be argued that we give out of our excess. Few of us are giving sacrificially. Statistically, Americans are giving less than 3% of their income to charity. That's not tithing. That's not generous. And I dare say that it isn't love.

Wouldn't it be more loving if we each tried to out give one another? Wouldn't it be more effective if we each tried to out serve one another? Instead of sending our kids around the neighborhood to sell popcorn or wrapping paper --- how about we teach our kids to love God and teach them to love others? That would be, of course, instead of teaching them how to sell crap that people don't need and really don't want to buy --- but purchase anyway because the kids are so cute, it's "for a good cause," or because we fell guilty if we don't.

I'm all for charity. But my wife and I pray over our money and we give where God directs us. We're giving considerably more than 10% to our church alone. And we give well beyond that too. We serve others by volunteering our time, our home and whatever else we can serve with. And yet, here comes the requests.

Shop for Jesus. Dance for diabetes. Race for the cure. It makes me wonder if I didn't step into some quagmire back in those teen-age days when I rocked for a mission trip. Between Marlo Thomas, Lance Armstrong, Sally Struthers and Susan Komen - I think I need to find that girl on the school bus, write to her Dad again and see if he can help me out of this mess

Palin's Clothes

Okay, we have a new scoop in the world of politics. Did you see it this week? The Republican party reported that it has spent approximately $150,000 on clothes for Sara Palin and her family. Now the press reports this as if it were a "gottcha" kind of thing. It's shown on the news wires as if it were something scandalous. Perhaps some in America think it is. And they've backed John McCain into a corner with it - such that he felt he had to defend himself by telling the world that the clothes will ultimately be given to charity.

So let's talk about practical reality here. The Palin's make a small fraction of what their peers make on the campaign trail. Joe Biden's income is similar to that of Sara Palin's. But Joe has been dressing for the political circuit for years. Moreover, it is well known that men's clothes are much cheaper than women's clothes. It is also far more acceptable for a man to appear in public in the same suit more than once. (Most men I know own few suits and repeat them often!)

Simply put ... to dress Sara Palin for the role she's playing would cost some money. Did we expect her to run up her credit cards for this? Her husband is a blue-collar worker. Heck, he probably only owns one suit (for weddings and funerals). But we put him on national state and the whole world is watching the debates. Would we be happy for him to show up in bib overalls and tennis shoes? I think not!

I'm actually kind of glad the Republicans have dressed Sara. She's meeting world leaders, appearing on a global stage, and representing America to the world. I don't want to be embarrassed. I saw her making a speech the other day and she had her baby on her shoulder. I have to admit that I kind of winced. A world leader burping the baby while she speaks to the world. I suppose there's nothing wrong with that. But it is certainly a new image. Heck, I think it's a new image even if she's only the governor of a state! At any rate, she was well dressed and I thought that was appropriate.

I don't think there's a news story here. I think the media is looking pretty pathetic for reporting on this. My first observation is that it might have been wise for John McCain to have Cindy take Sara shopping. You know, two girl friends trying on clothes together and doing lunch. Cindy's got the money and could certainly have afforded to buy the clothes that Sara needed. In hindsight, I bet he wishes he'd had Cindy do that!

I also don't think the clothes should go to charity. How many homeless people do you know that would appreciate fine clothes from Nieman Marcus? I'm not saying poor people don't deserve nice things. I just don't think it's a practical gift. I've never seen a homeless woman in a pair of spiked pumps, for example. Besides, if they go to charity, they'll just end up on some celebrity auction on e-bay with some simpletons bidding for clothes worn by Alaska governor Sara Palin. The poor people wouldn't ever get to to wear them anyway! So I say let Sara Palin (and her family) keep the clothes and shoes.

And to the media who waste time reporting stories like this, I say, "Get a life."

Obama's Wallet is Telling

Preachers have always told us that you can see what someone really believes if you look at their checkbook and their day planner. In other other words, don't listen to what they say - look at what they do. I never paid much attention to that, but as I've gotten older, I began to realize that it's backed by a very strong truth in human nature: people don't always do what they say, but they will always do what they believe. And so yesterday's news on the Obamas was very sad for me.

Barack and Michelle Obama made public their tax returns for the years 2000-2006. (They issued a challenge to Bill and Hillary Clinton to do the same thing.) I'm not sure why tax returns are such a big deal for presidential candidates, but they are telling about the beliefs of these individuals.

True Christians have, for centuries, tithed faithfully - giving at least 10% of their household incomes to the church or otherwise to the work of the Lord (i.e. Christian organizations and missions). Obama has been running for president on a platform of Christianity. He's told us that he had a life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ and has been a Christ-follower ever since. His tax returns seem to suggest otherwise.

From 2000-2004, the Obamas took in over $1.2 million in household income. That's an average of $244,529 annually over those five years. Their giving to all charity during those years? Just $10,770, or less than 1% of of their income. Folks, these are not generous people. Heck, they are not even obedient people!

When the press questioned this, an Obama spokesman said, "As new parents who were paying off ... student loans, giving ... was as generous as they could be at the time." Could that be true of Christ-followers? I hate to be difficult, but folks, I'm not buying this one. I know people who have two kids, student loans and make only a fraction of what the Obamas make. They still tithe. Children and student loans don't prevent one from being obedient to God.

In 2005, the Obamas' income shot up to almost $1.671 million - and their giving shot up to $77,315. That was 4.63% of their income, almost half what it would have taken to tithe as Christians obedient to God. In 2007, the Obamas' income was only $991,296 and they gave $60,307 to charity. That was just over 6% of their income. I guess the good news is that as they have become more wealthy (the above photo was taken while Barack was relaxing at the Ritz Carlton in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands), they are becoming more generous. Perhaps if this trend continues, they will become truly obedient to Christ!

I don't like taking pot shots at anyone. But this man is asking me to trust him for a lot. Before any of us can really trust someone, we have to know them. I don't think I really know who Barack Obama is. And the troubling thing is that what I do know makes me think he isn't who he says he is.

So Mr. Obama, I'd really like to vote for you. But can you tell me who you really are?